LIV Golf Reportedly Won't Offer Players 'Huge Upfront Payments' in Contract Renewals

The future of golf remains very up in the air with the PGA Tour and LIV still separate entities, and those on the latter tour reportedly won't have massive upfront payments waiting for them when their contracts expire.

Eamon Lynch of Golfweek reported that "LIV told its stars that any contract renewals won't repeat the huge upfront payments that first lured them to the Saudi teat, so the earnings gap between the circuits has narrowed significantly, at least for those who are competitively relevant."

It seemed like there may be some type of reunification when a framework agreement between the PGA Tour and LIV was announced nearly two years ago.

However, the two sides haven't moved much closer to making an agreement a reality despite various meetings and discussions. Lynch noted Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the chief of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund that finances LIV, has not talked to representatives from the PGA Tour since "a fractious meeting at the White House on February 20."

The PGA Tour seems to hold more of the leverage at this point, as Lynch pointed out it hasn't even dipped into its $1.5 billion it obtained from Strategic Sports Group in a partnership. The PGA Tour has also generated far better television ratings than LIV and hosts the more established tournaments that are familiar to golf fans.

"If you wanna figure out what's going to happen to the game of golf, go to the other tour and ask those guys," Scottie Scheffler said. "We had a tour where we all played together, and the guys that left, it's their responsibility I think to bring the tours back together. So go see where they're playing this week and ask them."

At this point, the PGA Tour and LIV players only compete in tournaments together during the four majors. Those majors represent a chance for golf fans to see the likes of Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, among others, go up against Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm and the headline names on LIV.

Lynch noted that Rahm is the only LIV headliner who has a long-term deal at this point, which is why the lack of "huge upfront payments" in future discussions is so notable. 

Perhaps the PGA Tour can wait for the contracts of some of the headline LIV golfers to expire and then see if it can convince them to come back without relinquishing any leverage or concessions to the other tour.